January 2012 News
Here is the latest news for January 2012. New Year's treat for Newey and Mansell Renouned British engineer Adrian Newey and 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell are on the list of honours, which are awarded for achievment or service for the country. Newey is receiving an OBE for services to motorsport, while Mansell has been awarded a CBE for services to children and young people within his leading charity work role. Red Bull have won the previous two Constructors' and Drivers' Championships with cars designed by Adrian Newey. He has also designed winning cars for Williams and McLaren. Mansell, who already has an OBE, was famous for his committed racing style and attitude, which have lead him to become closely working with children. His F1 Career spanned 15 years, with 31 Grand Prix victories, 32 pole positions and 30 fastest laps. Gamereviewer 22:26, February 3, 2012 (UTC) 2012 Driver Line-Ups For the 2012 season, Renault are changing their name to Lotus, Lotus to Caterham and Virgin to Marussia. These changes have been implemented on the following Driver list. Red Bull Racing Renault 1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Mark Webber McLaren Mercedes 3. Jenson Button 4. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 5. Fernando Alonso 6. Felipe Massa Mercedes GP 7. Michael Schumacher 8. Nico Rosberg Lotus Renault 9. Kimi Raikkonen 10. Romain Grosjean Force India Mercedes 11. Paul di Resta 12. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber Ferrari 14. Kamui Kobayashi 15. Sergio Perez STR Ferrari 16. Daniel Ricciardo 17. Jean-Eric Vergne Williams Renault 18. Pastor Maldonado 19. Bruno Senna Caterham Renault 20. Heikki Kovalainen 21. Jarno Trulli HRT/TBA 22. Pedro de la Rosa 23. TBA Marussia Cosworth 24. Timo Glock 25. Charles Pic Gamereviewer 20:45, February 4, 2012 (UTC) Buemi Returns to Red Bull with a Test and Reserve Driver Role Red Bull have confirmed that Sebastien Buemi will be their reserve/test driver for the 2012 season, supporting Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Buemi has driven for the sister team Toro Rosso for the previous 3 years, but was dropped for the new season. “It’s good to remain with Red Bull for another year and have this opportunity with the world championship-winning team,” said the 23 year-old Swiss driver. “I would prefer to be driving at the races of course, but working with Red Bull Racing on the development of their car and providing them with feedback throughout the season is the next best thing.” Buemi struggled in 2010 and 2011, so he was dropped for the 2012 season in favour of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne. Christian Horner felt that Buemi's long term loyalty deserved to be rewarded, and consequently he has landed this role, as explained in an interview with the BBC. "It was entirely logical for Sebastien to continue with Red Bull having been a member of the Junior Team since 2004,” explained Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “He already knows the team well from his time with us in 2008 and has gained significant race experience over the past three years. He will complete important test and simulation work for us throughout the year and will be in attendance at each Grand Prix." After a winter break, Red Bull have returned to work in their factory at Milton Keynes ahead of the pre-season tests that will take place from February 7-9th, in Jerez, Spain. As a result of Red Bull signing Buemi as a reserve, Toro Rosso have followed suit. Gamereviewer 22:19, February 8, 2012 (UTC) Raikkonen Joins Rising Stars, Lotus After 2 years away from the sport, to persue a rallying career that never really took off, Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 World Champion, has joined Lotus (previously called Renault). Kimi is thrilled to be back and has spent the last few days preparing for the season at Lotus' UK base. "There has been quite a bit of noise in the press about my comeback and there have been a lot of rumours," explained the 32 year old Finn. "For me, coming back to Formula One is a good thing and I hope it will be for the teams and the fans also!" "I love this time of year at the factory. There's a real buzz surrounding the new car, every single department is working flat out in order to have everything ready on time. You can really feel people's dedication and it's nice to be a part of it." Although he had briefly sat in a cockpit before, Thursday 5th january was the first real time he had got into the cockpit since leaving at the end of the 2009 season. "The last time I was at Enstone I quickly jumped into a seat, but this is indeed the first time I have properly sat in an F1 car with a helmet on since the last race of 2009," he explained. "It felt a bit odd at first because the cockpit seems a bit small, but that’s normal." "It’s just like in the past when I have done seat fittings - it feels a bit strange when you first step into the car but you quickly adjust. You spend so much time sitting in the car so the position is really crucial, it needs to be 100 percent right." "I’d rather spend a lot of time getting it right at this time of the year because there are many races in the season and you sit behind the wheel a lot. Getting it right the first time is imperative. It will be nice to get back to racing." Gamereviewer 11:53, February 11, 2012 (UTC) Force India Hoping to Debut VJM05 at First Jerez Test Force India are hopeful that their new car, the VJM05, will be ready in time to debut at the first test in Jerez taking place on the 7th February. After completing the new FIA crash tests before Christmas, Force India are well on schedule to be ready for the first test. One of the new rule changes for 2012 is the fact that the teams must complete crash tests before being permitted to test their new cars, which made Force India ready their new car earlier than they usually would. "We're on schedule, that's the good news!" explained technical director Andrew Green. "It's been a little bit tougher this year, having to homologate the chassis prior to testing. So there was a little bit of extra planning involved to get that sorted. There were a lot of fingers crossed! You're hoping everything does what all the analysis says it should have done." "It’s always nice when you reel off the tests one-by-one without any dramas at all. It’s a real credit to everybody. It was a different schedule, a different plan, compared to last year. Everything went to schedule, so we went into the holidays very relaxed that we’d got all that signed off. Everyone could go away and have a good break over the New Year knowing that we were ready to go!" Force India began work on their new competitor in the summer. The problem was that the team's close battle with Toro Rosso, which they eventually won, meant that they couldn't fully focus on the VJM05 until after the last race of the season, which must make their crash success even more of an achievment. "We started working on it back in June, and the first wind tunnel tests were around July,” said Green. “We took it out of the tunnel for one week after August just to do an upgrade for VJM04. It was such a close 2011 season, fighting where we were fighting in those last few races. We didn’t know which way it was going to go." "We weren’t really anticipating such a strong response from Toro Rosso near the end of the season - they seemed to have a reasonable upgrade around Suzuka time. It’s quite unusual for a team to come up with such a huge change so late in the season. So the concentration was right until the last race in Brazil. You could say that, from that point on, it’s been 100 percent focus on the new car for us." Despite the team's late start on the new car, they managed to success pass the crash tests, meaning that they have time to carry out extensive preparations, including rig testing, a more detailed car and much more. With still plenty to do before the start of the season, the Force India factory is a hive of activity. "There’s always a buzz around when it’s happening,” concluded Green. “I’ve been looking at the car in its model form for a while now. But for a lot of people when it comes together will be the first time they’ve seen it. It’s always an exciting time when the car fires up for the first time, and it’s been born!" "It is a busy time for us, and there’s a huge unknown as well. We don’t know how well we’ve done over the winter compared to our competitors, and thus there’s a bit of anxiety just waiting to see what everyone else comes up with. So there’s that side of it too." Andrew Green and the rest of the team at Force India, including drivers Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg, as the tests at Jerez are only just around the corner. Gamereviewer 11:53, February 11, 2012 (UTC) Hamashima Joins Ferrari Ferrari have decided to sign former Bridgestone employee, Hirohide Hamashima. He was previouslty the director of motorsport tyre development at Bridgestone and clearly Ferrari think his expertise will come in handy. They have claimed that this decision is to try to improve Ferrari's interaction with the new 2012 Pirelli tyres, which was an area that they struggled in last year. Hamashima has bucket loads of F1 knowledge, having led the development of the Bridgestone F1 tyres between 1997 and 2010. The Japanese worked closely with Ferrari in that period, helping Michael Schumacher to 5 World Championships between 2000 and 2004. Hamashima's joining of Ferrari was announced 11th January at Ferrari's annual 'Wrooom' media event in the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. The Japanese engineer is expected to report directly to Ferrari chassis director Pat Fry. Ferrari have also said that Steve Clark, former Mercedes team member, has joined Ferrari to head up race engineering. Gamereviewer 13:25, February 11, 2012 (UTC) Williams Join Michael Johnson to Boost Pit Performance Williams have announced a new partnership with Micjael Johnson Performance Inc. (MJP), a company founded by Olympic multiple gold medallist Michael Johnson. MJP trains atheletes for all sorts of sports and as part of the agreement will devise a training programme for the Williams' pit crew. "I had the privilege of first meeting Michael at the Belgian Grand Prix in the late 1990s,” explained Williams’ team principal Frank Williams. “I have always admired the dedication required to be an Olympic champion. The attention to detail and the commitment required is what sets these extraordinary individuals apart from the rest of us." "When Michael and I met again recently he explained how he had established a company that specialized in improving athletic performance. I was extremely keen to learn how he could help our team as there seemed to be a lot of areas of common interest. Michael’s sporting achievements speak for themselves, and the principles he used to become the fastest man in the world are certainly transferable into our own hugely competitive field." "Formula One is about all aspects of the race. We all know how crucial the brief time the car spends in the pits can be, and so it will be exciting to see how Michael and his team can help give us the edge in this respect. We’re all really looking forward to working with them over the coming years." "Everyone at Michael Johnson Performance is excited about our partnership with the Williams F1 Team,” said Johnson. “Williams is known around the world as one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula One and has achieved great success over the years and we look forward to helping them continue that winning tradition." "I have been a huge Formula One fan since I first attended the Grand Prix at Spa in the 1990s where I had the great privilege of meeting Sir Frank Williams. I am confident that the experience and biomechanics expertise of the MJP staff that has benefited numerous American football athletes, Premier League football teams, and Olympic federations, can also benefit the Williams F1 Team pit crew in their goal to cut hundredths and even tenths of a second from their pit-stop times." During his unrivalled career, Johnson broke World Records in the 200m, 400m and 4x200m relay and became known as the fastest man in the world when he completed his historic 200 and 400m Olympic double in 1996. Gamereviewer 13:25, February 11, 2012 (UTC) Kubica Faces Further Delays Before Returning to F1 Robert Kubica's hopes of returning to F1 were hit with a massive blow, when he injured his right leg after falling on ice at his home in Italy. It is the same leg that he damaged badly in his serious rallying accident last February. Although Kubica, now 27, has made no official comment, he is understood to have again fractured his right tibia. Reports from the BBC suggest Kubica will require a metal screw inserted just above his ankle followed by a month in plaster. Kubica, who won the 2008 Canadian GP, missed the entire 2011 season, after his crash on the Ronde di Andora Rally in which a metal barrier pierced the Skoda Fabia he was driving after he had left the road, partially severing his right forearm. Despite many operations and rehabilitation programmes, last November Kubica ruled himself out of the 2012 season, promping Lotus (formerly Renault) to sign newbie Romain Grosjean and welcome the return of ex-Formula One World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen. At the time Renault promised to support any comeback from Kubica, although media speculation has repeatedly linked him with a move to Ferrari, replacing Felipe Massa for the 2013 season. Asked about such a scenario on Wednesday at Ferrari’s annual ‘Wrooom’ media event, team principal Stefano Domenicali commented: "Robert is a great driver, but he had very severe injuries and he is still working hard just to get back to normal living. We need to wait and see. That kind of injury takes a long time to recover from." Following the setback in Kubica's recovery, Renault boss Eric Boullier said "Robert has shown fantastic courage and determination in his rehabilitation following the accident last year, and it is sad to hear that he has suffered this setback. On behalf of everyone at Lotus Renault GP, I would like to wish Robert a quick recovery." Gamereviewer 15:32, February 11, 2012 (UTC) Ferrari: We Will Return to the Top Ferrari struggled to match Red Bull and McLaren in the last season and even though Fernando Alonso gained a well deserved victory at the British Grand Prix, they finished a dismal third in the Constructors' Championship. "We came very close winning the championship in 2010, a long way off in 2011 and we want to win it in 2012," claimed Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. "That's easy to say, but harder to do, but we have an extraordinary sense of determination to get it done." Ferrari launched their car on February 3rd and after the Jerez pre-season testing have, arguably, got a competitive car that has hopefully pleased both the team and the fans. Ferrari Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali has equally high hopes for the team's 2012 car. "Winning is our primary objective and I believe we are preparing ourselves in the right way for this," Domenicali said. "Everyone is working hard on improving the performance of the car, paying great attention to every little detail. It is definitely different, because it represents a clear break with the past in terms of the design philosophy." "It’s not that pretty, because the shape defined by the technical regulations does not leave much scope, but, and this is what counts really, our hopes are that it is at the very least quick! I asked our engineers, as far back as last summer to look into every little nook and cranny of the rules to push it to the limit." The 2011 season proved disappointing for Felipe Massa, who failed to even make it onto the podium once and scored less than half the points that Alonso managed to attain. Massa has said that he is "confident" that he will return to his race winning ways of the past this year. Media, and our, speculation finds that he won't as he has struggled to pull anything spectacular out of the bag since his crash in 2008. "After the last Grand Prix of 2011 in Brazil, I told myself that we had to be more competitive at every level and that’s exactly what we are doing,” said Felipe. “Something also needed to change on my side and now I feel mentally strong and extremely motivated. I am well aware that this is an important year for me." "I want to read in the papers that Felipe is back, fighting for the wins and to do that, we need everything to be right; if we have a good car then I know I can fight for the title, as I have already done in the past. Sure, it bothers me not having won for such a long time and I have a strong desire to win again; however, I am calm because I know what I am capable of." Team mate Alonso, who despite his best efforts, could only manage 4th in the Drivers' Championship has said that he is hopeful about the upcoming season, although he is determined to stay level headed. "I reckon we will have to wait for at least two or three races, which means up to Shanghai, to really understand what the hierarchy is,” he explained to the media. “Maybe some people think that the tests mean something, but that is not the case." "On paper, we have everything in place to do well, but I can be neither optimistic nor pessimistic, partly because I have only seen the new car in the wind tunnel and from the diagrams on the engineers’ computers." Although hesitant to make 2012 Season predictions for Ferrari, he revealed that he was pleased with the team's recent technical signings, which he believes will be handy in the team's Championship success target. "All the newcomers are absolutely welcome because they represent a breath of fresh air for the team and bring a new package of experience to the team," he concluded. "Hirohide Hamashima Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tyre development is a good acquisition because he looks after an area, tyres, where we suffered last year; we did not manage to maximize our potential, especially with some of the compounds and we hope this situation can improve." Gamereviewer 15:05, February 12, 2012 (UTC) Christian Horner: Melbourne's what matters With Red Bull's rivals making good progress and there being a rumour of a breakthrough in technical developments, Red Bull's team Principal Christian Horner admits he's having a tough time with the current World Champion holding team and says it's difficult to guage the success of their 2012 preparations. Despite the distractions from the media, Horner is determined to stay level-headed and keep the team focused as the second set of tests in Barcelona draw near. "It's always difficult to tell at this time of year," explained the Englishman during a visit to the annual Autosport International Show. "It's the month of January and we don't see any of the other teams so there are obviously bits of speculation that float around and snippets that come out here and there." "We are focused on keeping our heads down and it only matters what happens in Melbourne. I think we have proven to be adept at changing to different regulations, but we don't underestimate McLaren and Ferrari or even Mercedes. We will only know where we are when the fuel comes out of the car in qualifying in Melbourne in eight or nine weeks' time." Despite blowing away the rest of the field last year and attaining both the Constructors' and Drivers' titles, Red Bull have definitely not been having a rest over the Christmas break. Instead, according to Horner, everyone at the Milton Keynes base have been working flat out for the 2012 season. "At the moment things seem to be progressing well,” he explained. “The factory is incredibly busy, as I'm sure all the teams are at this time of the year. And of course there is the added challenge this year of trying to pass the crash test before we test car for the first time. But that's the same for everybody and we are burning the midnight oil in Milton Keynes at the moment." One area that couldn't be simpler a decision for Horner is the driver line up of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Vettel has just won 2 Championships in a row (as have Red Bull won Constructors') and he reckons that Vettel is going to return as potent as ever. "He is a young man, but he is one who has achieved so much and he has got a very wise head on young shoulders,” explained Horner. “Technically he is very strong, physically he is very strong and obviously he has got an enormous amount of natural talent and intelligence. But above all of that he’s a genuinely nice guy. He views it as a privilege to be where he is." "He handles pressure tremendously well. I think the exciting thing about Sebastian is that at only 24 years, he is still evolving, he is still getting better. I think the best is yet to come from him. Sebastian can have a very long career ahead of him, he is genuinely passionate about F1, he loves what he is doing. I’m sure he can be around for a long time to come." Vettel's team mate for the 2012 season, Mark Webber, has a tough 2011, although he never put his head down and just progressed all through the season to the culmination, the Brazilian win. Webber managed 3rd in the championship, behing Vettel and Button. Lots of people presume that Webber had a bad season, but in fact he didn't, it's just that compared to the almost inconceivable driving from Vettel he seemed to be off form. Webber wasn't praised at all for last season, although on the whole he drove very well. "It’s very difficult going up against a driver of Sebastian’s calibre, being matched and measured against somebody of his standard,” Horner explained. “Mark had a difficult start to the year, but he adapted and he worked hard at it and he worked hard to understand the tyres in particular. And his performances grew and grew throughout the year and it was great to see him win that final race in Brazil." "He has gone away and trained hard over the winter and his enthusiasm has rejuvenated and I think 2012 could be a very strong year for Mark. For us it’s a great pairing. They are at very different stages in their careers, they push each other very hard and bring the best out in each other I think." Gamereviewer 16:14, February 13, 2012 (UTC) Bahrain Welcomes Back Employees The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), which is the venue for this season's 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, held in April, had a meeting last month to welcome back it's reinstated employees. It follows the recent BIC announcement that staff would be reinstated, following recommendations from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). "We are happy to see the Bahrain staff have been reinstated and are back to work," commented Formula One Management on the subject. Addressing all the BIC staff members present at the meeting, Zayed Al Zayani said "In accordance with the directives of His Majesty King Hamed bin Isa Al Khalifa, in the spirit of reconciliation - following with the recommendations of the BICI report - the Board of the Bahrain Intenational Circuit warmly welcomes back our employees and looks forward to them rejoining the BIC family." "We are approaching a crucial time of the year at BIC, with the hosting of the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix coming up in three months’ time. We look forward to working again as one unit, as we have done in the past, to show the world what Bahrain is really about." Al Zayani thanked all who stepped forward and filled in the many vacant positions during the past several months, and also wished the staff the best in their duties and responsibilities. Ministry of Labour Official, Dr Mohammed Ali Alansari, added "The Ministry of Labour appreciates all the efforts made by the BIC in reinstating the staff who had been dismissed during the earlier part of last year. The BIC continues to lead the way in employee development, and it remains a model for businesses in the Kingdom to follow." "Today’s gathering is an important step that emphasises the spirit of friendship between all staff members. We look forward to all the other businesses in the Kingdom following in the example of the BIC." At the end of the meeting all the staff came together for a group photo in the BIC's F1 paddock. Gamereviewer 16:33, February 13, 2012 (UTC) Williams Target Brighter 2012 Season 2011 was an abysmal season for Williams. They came 9th in the standings, only beating the "new" teams and only scored 5 World Championship points, making this their worst ever campaign in their long Formula One history. But, rather than giving up, the British team are intent on making 2012 famous for the Williams uprising. As a result of this determination and need, if they want to continue in Formula One, they have opted for a new engine from Renault, a revised technical team and a new driver to the name of Bruno Senna. Senna sound familiar? Well, that's because he is the nephew of arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time. Lets hope for Williams' sake that that talent has rubbed off on their young and new driver. Chief Operations Engineer Mark Gillian is hopeful that they will make good, positive progress and that the team could be back fighting for top-ten race results in 2012. "Obviously it will be quite a significant improvement in performance but that is our goal and I am reasonably confident looking forward that we will achieve that goal,” he said. “We want to be consistently in points and in the top ten. We want to be through to Q3 and scoring points at the end of the race. I am confident that we can achieve that goal." "The overall development of the car is going well and is on plan. The car build has just started and the process has dramatically changed from last season to make sure we capture any faults along the way as quickly as possible and not have as many issues as we had last season." "We passed all the various crash tests before Christmas. General performance trends look very encouraging and again the processes in terms of development and on the design side have dramatically changed. So it’s looking very encouraging. Going forwards, I’d say we are on target." One of the reasons for Gillian's optimism is the FIA rule changes on engine mapping and exhaust positioning. Some of the teams in 2011 gained a huge aerodynamic advantage by using the car's exhaust gases, called blown diffusers, which allowed the drivers to feather the throttle around slow corners, giving them more downforce. During the season the FIA did what they could to stop it and by Silverstone it was banned. It is also banned for the 2012 season. Gillian believes that this "clamp down" will narrow the performance gap between the cars last year that used the system and the ones that didn't, although they aren't ruling about the possibility of the upper tier teams thinking up of a new innovation to take its place. "One of the big differentiators last year was the exhaust blowing but the FIA have curtailed its use by both the geometric change to the exhausts, which now have to be rearward facing and you’re not allowed to re-ingest exhaust gas back into the bodywork, and also they have changed the engine mapping," he explained. "There were teams that could utilise that and teams that couldn’t, and that is effectively neutered for this season so that will take a few teams back and bring everything closer. With the KERS and DRS it obviously opens up the overtaking opportunities and the racing should be closer than it has been. But then there’s always the next f-duct, trick floor, blown exhaust for this year but it’s just a question of what that will be." One possible stumbling block for Williams this year couldbe the inexperience of their driver line up. With Senna replacing 19 season veteran Rubens Barrichello alongside Pastor Maldonado and reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, it means the team has a driver line up boasting only 45 Grand Prix starts and 19 test days of experience. Gillian is relishing the challenge and is confident that the move will pay off. We will have to wait until Melbourne to find out whether it has. "It obviously puts added pressure on the operations side, but to me it is an opportunity," he concluded. "We have three reasonably inexperienced drivers, but three with great potential and it is up to us as a team - and the drivers - to effectively unlock that potential through the season and maximise the performance. So I see it as an opportunity." Gamereviewer 17:40, February 13, 2012 (UTC) Active/Reactive Ride Height Banned for 2012 The FIA has banned the reactive ride height systems that were understood to be under development by Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari. The FIA informed all teams week beginnning 16th January that it considered the technology a breach of regulations. Lotus' solution, first spotted at kast November's toung driver test, utilised brake torque to prevent the car from dipping under braking and therefore providing a more constant and stable ride height, improving stability and aerodynamics. "The FIA has just banned that particular type of system," confirmed Williams’ chief operations engineer Mark Gillan, speaking on the 'Flying Lap' webcast. "We have been investigating that type of system for a while. It obviously has an impact on the aero platform of the car - anything that gets the front ride height lower is beneficial from an aerodynamic perspective." The Lotus system had previously been given the thumbs-up as it was reactive rather than active, meaning that the system needed no imput from the driver and worked automatically under braking. The system kept the underfloor of the car at a constant level rather than it dipping slightly, meaning that it was more aerodynamic. It has now been confirmed illegal. Gamereviewer 20:47, February 13, 2012 (UTC) Raikkonen Prepares for 2012 Season with Private Valencia Test 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen got back behing the wheel of an Formula One car for the first time in 2 years on January 23rd. Raikkonen spent 23/24th sampling a 2010-spec Renault at Valencia in a specially designed test to help him reacclimatise to F1 ahead of his return to the sport this season. The Finn, who will race for Lotus in 2012, spent the 23/24th of last month in the R30. He focused his attentions on readjusting to an F1 cockpit after spenfing the previous couple of years in a mainly unsuccessful rallying career. He will also get his first chance to sample Pirelli's tyres, even though he is using a demonstration-spec rubber. Raikkonen last drove an F1 car at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when he bid farewell to Ferrari. After this test, Raikkonen will join team mate Romain Grosjean in the all new Lotus line up for 2012. Gamereviewer 09:42, February 14, 2012 (UTC) Category:News